When Wireman Says Hello
by SummerE
Summary: Sasuke never told her that there would be times when he felt Wireman speaking; times when memories gave him both cuts and warmth, times when a certain girl whom he cannot leave in spite of all the pain she gave him.


Summary: Sasuke never told her that there would be times when he felt Wireman speaking; times when memories gave him both cuts and warmth, times when a certain girl whom he cannot leave in spite of all the pain she gave him.

**Disclaimer:** Credits to Masashi Kishimoto for creating so many interesting characters for us to tell stories with, and to Stephen King from whom I borrowed some _Duma Key _characters and quotes.

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**When Wireman Says Hello**

Sasuke knew Wireman would speak sometime again today.

He knew it but did not allow his thoughts to dwell on it as he reached her apartment with his car on the dot of 5pm. There he waited as usual near the door. He could picture her going through a list and doing a last check of the things packed now, so he silently counted to 10 before dialing her number and pressing his phone tight against his ear.

His dark eyes softened and a little smile came to his usual stoic face as she picked up at the second ring.

"Sasuke-san?" After all these time, the stutter was finally gone. He ignored the slight tug at his heart and let her repeat his name in her undisrupted sweet voice for a few more times before responding.

"Yes, it's me," As he spoke, he looked out from the driver seat to the window where he knew she would appear in a matter of seconds. The smile grew slightly wider when a little face peeked out from the opened window with her phone in hand. The tug of his heart ceased, eaten up by the warmth only her presence could give. Her own face brightened at the sight of him, her own eyes widened with a light in them. He watched her raised her eyebrows when he stopped her from hanging up with a shake of his head.

Sasuke waited patiently without a word until she replaced the phone to her ear. "I'm here now."

"Yes, I know." She returned his smile with one of his favorite smiles, the one which sent the message of "You silly boy."

"And you still want to talk to me through the phone?"

He shrugged, his eyes never leaving her face. "Just don't feel like hanging up. Not just yet."

He watched her leaned forward at the window. A few black strands of hair escaped from her shoulders and framed her face, which was now propped on one hand. Her pale gray eyes were filled with question as she spoke. "I just don't understand you sometimes, Sasuke-san…"

He shrugged again and looked down for a brief moment before looking up at her again, his smile wider. Black looked into pale gray, and pale gray into black. Then in a split moment, both fell silent. None said a word in the next few minutes. None moved. Only their soft breathing quietly soaked up the comfortable silence in the autumn air.

He never asked her if she felt the same, but Sasuke seemed to hear something as he always did in moments like this, moments when the dull ache which had grown numb over time and the dreadful heart-wrenching pain which they all tried to forget, secretly resumed itself in the shelter of twofold silence.

No, not Wireman. Not just yet. This was one of Wireman's best friends, Edgar Freemantle.

"_How do we remember to remember? That's a question I…" _Edgar Freemantle said in the 1st page of _Duma Key _and in her sweet voice, loud and clear then for all to hear.

Now, only for him to hear.

How do we remember to remember? Sasuke never knew and never tried to search for an answer, but now he remembered their days together, the days the four of them spent on the porch; the days when there were still four of them, the days when they were all young and free from worries, from sorrow and pain—days not spent on this porch. That was another porch where she would read out parts from the book where Wireman came from, on those days which his heart both sang and ached for…

"We have to go now, Sasuke." As usual, she was the first to break the silence. He looked up to see her tucking her hair back behind her ears. She did not look at him, and her phone fell from her ears. Her face was slightly apologetic as she hung up and disappeared from the window in a flash, but not before Sasuke saw the remnants of days on one different porch in her eyes.

That's when he knew that she knew too; that they both knew that Wireman would speak to them sometime today.

That Wireman— that señor from _Duma Key_ who said a lot more aside from his occasional Spanish phrases—would also speak to Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga today.

**************

But he mentioned nothing about it when he left the car and ran up the four flights of stairs up her apartment. He breathed no word about it when he asked her to close her own door herself, only grinned as he picked up the basket she had to set down on the ground when she pulled her door shut with a shaking head.

"And I wondered why would you even ask me to close the door when I had something in my hands…"

His eyes were warm and soft, betraying nothing of what they had seen and knew. "That's the only way I can help you get this down." He lifted the basket he had in one hand, the basket she was always determined to carry herself before turning to descend the steps. "This was okay for me, but it'll always be heavy for you."

Hinata only shook her head more as she followed behind him. "Sasuke-san…am I always that weak in your eyes…?"

There was more than a little quietness in her voice when she spoke, so Sasuke stopped at once on the stairs and turned to her.

"_How do we remember to remember?"_

He remembered how Hiashi Hyuuga used to brought his daughter down with labels of "weakling" in order to "strengthen her in his way" in Hinata's early years. He remembered how Neji Hyuuga had spitted out that word more than once when they were still not on good terms. He remembered how Hinata's own younger sister had teased her sister once in a while with that word when she lost to her in some tournament or friendly competition. He remembered how there were some words which clung and stayed, and how there was never an apology which can wash away every sorrow and pain.

Sasuke looked down into the pale gray as he answered her question.

"Not weak, but this is what guys are here for." He set his free hand firmly on Hinata's shoulder. "And you're never weak, not in my eyes."

"Never in our eyes. And especially never in my eyes. Those who always tried their best were never weak."

Later on Sasuke could still feel her gratitude when they drove along in silence. He had simply said what they truly felt, what he truly felt. Hinata was never weak, because she always tried her best in everything. She was strong physically; her body was strong enough to try again and again to master the difficult practices her father insisted her to take in order to protect herself. She was strong mentally; her spirit and her heart was strong enough to withstand the constant jeering and mocking from her cousin Neji and teasing from Hanabi, which ceased after noting her improvement which surged all in a sudden after many years of perseverance in what she was doing.

And she was also able to withstand all the pain they had stubbornly bore all the time…Sasuke shook his head. Not now, not just yet.

And Hinata's personality was never weak. In spite of all the things she went through, Hinata remained the girl Sasuke met for the first time when they were both seven, in a family visit to the Hyuugas: the same sweet, kind, and gentle girl who smiled and answered every question politely, who gave up her own balloon for Sasuke who had burst his own and who had not even raised her voice against anything, even against the cat which had scratched her.

"She..she didn't know it hurts, you know. She didn't..didn't know." That's what Hinata had said then.

She never mentioned how much it hurts herself, so Sasuke did not tell Hinata that this was what he always repeated to himself every time he felt that tug at his heart, the tug which came especially when she hurt him, when she…

His car came to a stop, along with his thoughts. He blinked and glanced down for a while before looking over to the passenger seat.

Hinata had fallen asleep, as always. Her slender body was curled up slightly on the seat, under his jacket which he had forced on her when he noticed her head nodding. She had drifted away seconds after that, and the stopping of the car had not affected her any.

Sasuke did not want to wake her up now, not just yet.

So he watched her for a while, his eyes finding it hard to leave her pretty face which was serene with a tinge of something else in her sleep. The eyes were still closed, of course, shielded under soft wings of long eyelashes and slightly knotted eyebrows. He wondered what dreams she might have, all the while resisting the urge to reach out and stroke the lavender-tinted black hair around her face, or to touch her creamy cheeks.

And especially, the urge to do something to those crimson lips…But not now, not just yet. Maybe even not for forever.

Sasuke sighed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning away and said, "We're here, Hinata."

As Hinata stirred, he turned his eyes to something else, something else which they had tried to avoid all along, yet it was also something else they had came here for: to one familiar porch, to one familiar tree, to two things which belonged to Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, two of the best friends he ever had.

And Wireman stirred too at the back of his head.

**************

Edgar Freemantle seemed to be talking a lot today, though Sasuke knew Wireman could probably overtake him soon.

Yet it was Edgar Freemantle whom he heard as the two of them moved straightaway to the wooden porch in front of the little cabin without a word. It was him whom Sasuke heard as they spread the mat folded neatly in the basket over the wood, which creaked in slight complain under their weight.

"_How do we remember to remember?"_

How do we remember to remember? The question was dropped almost at once along with the memories that came as Sasuke set Hinata's basket on the mat and looked up to see her moving towards the back of the house. That was where the flowers were grown, that was where she had always gone when they came here back at those days. Back when there were still four of them, back when they would just come together and squeezed onto the mat and just talked about the past, the present, and the future or listen to Hinata read from Stephen King's _Duma Key_… He again pushed the thoughts away.

Hinata always went there for the purple irises. The irises which always reminded him of

"How much your friendship means to me", Hinata said with a gentle smile to him when she reappeared with the flowers in her hands. "That's what irises symbolize, you know. I learnt that from the flower-pressing classes Kurenai-sensei gave me before."

She set the flowers on the mat before reaching into the basket for a long and slender glass she always had for the flowers. Behind her, Sasuke only smiled in spite of the hard, quick yank at his heart at the sight of the purple.

She did not know it hurts, you know. She did not know how the phrase "your friendship" always hurts him. She did not know that Sasuke did not like irises, for he did not only want his friendship to mean much to her.

Something else, he wanted something else; something more than friendship, something which he had kept to himself back at those days but still could not bring himself to tell her. Not now, not just yet.

Now, he would just do something else today, something that he had seen some weeks ago in another visit and something he knew would make her laugh. "Do you want this, Hinata-sama?" Standing up with the box of cinnamon rolls, he bowed politely as Neji did then in front of Hinata.

Even with his head down, he could picture Hinata sat blinking once or twice before she chuckled softly.

"Sasuke-san!" Sasuke straightened up to see her shaking her head with a hand over her mouth. "It's bad enough when Neji had to do it once in a while in front of Father!" He merely smiled in response, his eyes never leaving her face as Hinata continued to laugh.

She was still chuckling when she took the box from his hands. He always liked to see her laugh, to hear her laugh. Back at those days, Hinata always laughed over the many things they had laughed over together. And the others too; there were so many things to laugh about. He smiled himself in recollection. Like the time back at those days when she accidentally sprayed herself with chocolate syrup. She had paused for a moment with that dark chocolate patch over her fair face like some sort of raccoon, before her laughter rang out sweet and clear with the rest of them.

Her hand was not over her mouth then. Even her slim body trembled and he could almost see the tingles spreading over it. Peals and peals of laughter had erupted from her, he remembered. Peals and peals of laughter, all of them sweeter and clearer than now, when there were only the two of them…He snapped awake at her voice.

"What were you looking at, Sasuke-san?" He shifted his eyes and looked down, only to see her eyes only inches from his face. Her breath brushed over his neck; she had stood up and tilted her face up slightly to have a clear view of him. The pale gray was filled with curiosity while she waited for his answer. "You're looking right at me without a word…"

She had never been this close. All the years together, she had never been this close. Even back at those days, Hinata had never come this close to Sasuke. Not this close, where he could just reach out and touch her, to snatch her in his arms, to hold her there and never let go…

"I…I was just looking at you laugh…"

He should have just stopped there, yet his brain seemed to stop working. She was still so close, so close. Close enough for him to make her his…In his momentary dazed state, Sasuke did not notice that Wireman had turned to him. In his momentary dazed state, he continued without thinking.

"You hardly ever laugh now that there're only the two of us…"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. No, oh no. Not now, not now he should not, not just yet…

In that split moment, he heard the dreaded whisper. In that split moment, he saw on her face that Wireman had finally spoke; that Wireman who 'always said the right things at the right moment' according to Hinata in _Duma Key_. That Wireman, that Wireman whom he feared because his words were too real, too close to his heart.

"_Pain is the biggest power of love." That's what Wireman says…_

There was a pause, a pause where both of them said nothing and did nothing. There was a pause when they stood frozen. There was a pause before Hinata took a few steps backward, before she fell lightly onto the mat, the mat which was now too empty without the company of two more people, of two more people whom Hinata's tears were now falling for, of two more people aside from Hinata whom reminded Sasuke of what Wireman once said in _Duma Key _at the death of his beloved Elizabeth Eastlake:

"_Pain is the biggest power of love."_

**************

_How do we remember to remember that 'pain is the biggest power of love'?_

Long long ago there were four children: two boys and two girls. There was Naruto Uzumaki, an expressive boy and there was Sasuke Uchiha, his far less emotional friend. And then there was Sakura Haruno, the strong female counterpart of Naruto who had more intelligence and there was Hinata Hyuuga, the gentle complete opposite of Sakura. They were four children, and they were the four of the closest friends in where they were.

The four of them were close, very close. The closeness seemed to come just like that, starting from the point where Naruto was held down by Sasuke after he almost pummeled Neji who wanted to beat up Hinata whom Sakura was hiding behind her back. That was when the four met for the first time and bonded for the rest of their lives. That was when they were 7.

They stayed together from then on. They ate together, played together, studied together, and sometimes slept together on the big porch of Naruto's place. It was always Naruto's place for some reason; perhaps that was because his house was the only one with a porch which they could play at, for Sasuke and Hinata's parents believed that porches were not for play and Sakura lived in the village hospital with her doctor aunt. After a few visits from the three of them, Naruto's parents always had a big mat laid on their porch where the children were just welcomed to flop onto when they were tired from their play. And there they would lay, beside a glass of irises as they talked or listened to Hinata's reading.

Years passed. And the four friends grew closer; their bond grew deeper and deeper, especially after Naruto lost his policeman father in a shootout when they were 8, especially after an accident killed Sasuke's parents and left him with his comatose brother when they were 10, especially after Sakura's aunt engaged her in strict nursing training when they were 14, and especially after Hinata moved out after being beaten up badly by her cousin Neji when they were 15. Even after everything, they still gathered at the porch and things seemed to be okay, even just for a while. Those were the happy times.

And then somehow, there was love.

One summer's day when they were 18, Hinata accidentally confessed to Naruto on the porch with a hand over her mouth and eyes widened in shock that she had admired him very much since he saved her from Neji 11 years ago. One summer's day when they were 18, Naruto responded apologetically that he loved someone else with his eyes on Sakura. One summer's day when they were 18, Sakura dropped her anko dumpling with a blushing face while Sasuke gave chase at once after Hinata who ran away from embarrassment. One summer's day when they were 18, Sasuke knew whom he loved when he sat quietly beside Hinata among the irises.

One summer's day when they were 18, Sasuke's heart never stopped aching since then for Hinata's tears, while her heart never stopped aching since then for her two best friends for whom she tried her best to be happy for. And one summer's day when they were 18, Wireman found them long before they found him.

"_Pain is the biggest power of love."_

The four best friends remained best friends, though there was a difference. Naruto and Sakura spent more and more days apart by themselves, soaked in the delight of a newfound relationship; Sasuke and Hinata did the same in the bitterness of a newfound pain. And the porch became a stranger to the four of them, and many irises bloomed and faded without seeing the inside of the slender glass they used to see.

What the purple flowers did see though, was that Sasuke remained Hinata's silent partner. From four on the porch they became two among the irises. In their silence, the cinnamon rolls he brought for her and the jacket he forced over her back kept them company from time to time. And in secret Sasuke get to pretend, at least for a while, that they were more than best friends as he watched her smile at his arrival, as he heard her chuckle when he cracked an occasional joke, as he felt her shivered under his hands as he slipped his jacket over her back.

Then Hinata started to talk, and Sasuke's quiet ache joined them. He did not tell her that it hurts when she mentioned 'Naruto-kun' but 'Sasuke-san'. He did not tell her that it hurts when she blushed only at Naruto's name. He did not tell her that it hurts when she remembered Naruto's red bean soup but forgot his onigiri. He did not tell her that he always repeated 'She didn't know it hurts, you know. She didn't know' to himself when she flinched at his touch, though it was only a brush on her shoulder. He did not tell her that before he knew Wireman he knew that

"_Pain is the biggest power of love."_

But the years gradually washed away the awkwardness, and when Naruto's mother was diagnosed with cancer, they again found themselves together on that familiar porch, that familiar mat, the familiar irises blooming in that familiar glass. They cried, all four of them. And they became best friends again like the four children who met in a kindergarten playground. The porch was again crowded with the four of them, and Hinata's voice again rang out loud and clear occasionally as she read out parts from the books she loved. The happy days returned. And they stayed together, especially after the death of Naruto's mother when they were 21.

And the four of them cried together again especially Naruto when Hinata came across Wireman in the Stephen King book she found in the Konoha library and when Wireman said, _"Pain is the biggest power of love."_

Hinata never read _Duma Key _aloud again. She never read any book aloud again, for fear of bringing tears from her best friends and especially from Naruto. And Sasuke did not tell her it hurts, nor ask her why it was still Naruto, even after all these years.

Not now, not just yet. And especially not when he and Hinata were the only ones who returned, battered and broken, from Sakura's graduation ceremony the four of them attended when they were 22. Especially not when their 22th year was the last year of both Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno on Earth.

"_Pain is the biggest power of love."_

And now Hinata and Sasuke were crying again, Hinata for her lost two friends and for Naruto, Sasuke for his lost two friends and for Hinata. And now they were crying again, only the two of them on the mat on the porch with the irises they still came from time to time, just as how Wireman cried for Elizabeth Eastlake, for deep love always comes with great pain, and great pain almost always comes with tears.

**************

"_How do we remember to remember?"_

Sasuke's came to a stop as he reached her apartment door. Hinata's pale gray were still tinted with red, and he resisted the urge to reach out and brush away the wet remnants at the corners of her eyes. He looked away before he spoke.

"You feel better?" He remembered what she would do without looking every single time, hell he remembered every single thing about her; he remembered her love for cinnamon rolls, for books, for his best friend Naruto Uzumaki whom he also missed...He pictured Hinata looking down before wiping the tears away with her own hands. Then he pictured her taking a deep breath before she answered him.

"Yeah…I felt better. Arigatou, Sasuke-san."

'She did not know it hurts, you know. She did not know.' came the whisper in his heart as usual, a neverending mantra he could never get rid of. And Sasuke turned back to Hinata with a smile which betrayed nothing. "Just call me if you need anything, ok?"

He watched her smile herself and nodded as she stood, worn out and battered herself in that little doorway she never invited him through, not even after all these days. He ignored the pain which came again as she said "I will, Sasuke-san."

She did not say anything else. And Sasuke said nothing as he watched her turn back and close the door. Not to her, at least.

Not now, not just yet.

In his mind, Sasuke only whispered to Wireman. 'Pain is the biggest power of love, huh? You're damn right, buddy. Damn right.' And he left her door, with the same bitter smile he thought Wireman would wear if he was there.

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Author's Note: Been in a pretty angsty mood lately as well as very into Duma Key, so here's the result =) Please RXR! Thanks!


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